At the same time that Gangcun and Shinozuka were on the phone, Li Yunlong held an operational meeting.

Shikazhuang.

"General."

Kotaro Ito walked into a house and came to a luxuriously decorated room.

Inside the house, Kazuki Yamamoto was dressed in the spotless uniform of a general of the Imperial Japanese Empire, with a katana given by the emperor standing beside him, holding a pile of intelligence materials in his hand and reading carefully.

But the deep frown between the eyebrows shows that Yamamoto is extremely anxious at this time.

"Ito-kun."

Seeing the comer, Yamamoto put down the information sent by Taiyuan in his hand, nodded his head, and smiled slightly.

When he left Taihara, he also brought Kotaro Ito with him.

As one of the people in charge of trading supplies with the independent regiment and obtaining food and fuel for the empire, Ito showed his amazing business talent, and in the transaction, he won a lot of benefits for the empire many times, and the credit was great, so the military rank also soared, and now he is the great sa.

Kotaro Ito.

"The data is out."

Ito's tone was calm.

Although he was promoted to the rank of Daisa, personally praised by the emperor, and even awarded medals from afar, and even as long as he continued, he continued to collect fuel, collect grain and transport it to the mainland, and there was hope for brigadier generals and even generals.

But he didn't have any waves in his heart, and even wanted to laugh a little.

This thing has a.

If the empire has the upper hand, or the so-called holy war has a chance of winning, he doesn't mind serving the empire and working hard for the empire, but now anyone with a discerning eye knows that the empire is a grasshopper after the autumn, and it won't last for a few days.

The higher the position now, the worse the death will be when the liquidation is carried out in the future.

Only a fool would continue to follow the Empire.

What he thinks about now is to hug the Eighth Route Army and Li Yunlong's thigh, lest the empire be killed in the future and be unlucky when people liquidate.

"How?"

Yamamoto took a deep breath.

After leaving Taiyuan, he was sent here through the operation of General Shinozuka and General Gangmura, and was responsible for collecting supplies for the empire here and training recruits for domestic transport.

During this time, the base area of the Independent Regiment continued to expand, and Li Yunlong's tentacles had already extended to Henan, and even approached the city where he was stationed, that is, Shijiazhuang. The light rail built by the other side is only a few dozen kilometers away from the city, and the base area has also expanded to the nearby mountainous areas.

Even, the two sides began to trade here, and the number and scale are getting bigger and bigger.

It feels like the Imperial Locust Army is becoming more and more like a worker.

"Recently, we have been harvesting more fuel and food, which has exceeded the amount collected by the First Army."

Ito narrated:

"As of yesterday, a total of 32,000 tons of heavy oil, 50,000 tons of grain, 15,000 tons of cotton, sugar and other materials have been obtained in a week, and a batch of new machinery and equipment will arrive next week, and the trading volume will be further expanded."

"4,000 tons of heavy oil and more than 5,000 tons of grain every day."

The corners of Yamamoto's mouth twitched.

At the peak of the First Army, the fuel obtained was only 7,000 tons per day, but now it is 4,000 tons per day on his side, and the food and materials have even reached 70% of the period of the First Army, and the rest of the materials are also about the same proportion.

In other words, Li Yunlong is deliberately abandoning the First Army and preparing to pick a time to completely annihilate the First Army.

"What's the point?"

Yamamoto was puzzled.

Li Yunlong used fuel, grain and other materials to exchange some machinery and equipment with the empire, judging from the exchange ratio, even before the war, when the price of food and fuel materials was low, it was completely a loss-making business, not to mention the current war period, the price of food and fuel soared.

So after a little thought, you can know that this is Li Yunlong's deliberate use of materials to attract the empire to continue to invest troops in the Republic of China.

But what Yamamoto didn't understand was.

What's the point of killing a little empire recruit?

What are the benefits?

Could it be that someone gave Li Yunlong a favor and asked him to kill the imperial soldiers? And the bid is very high, so high that Li Yunlong can use tens of millions of tons of fuel oil and grain to attract the empire to continue to send new troops to the Republic of China?

Thinking of this, Yamamoto rubbed his forehead and smiled self-deprecatingly, putting aside the messy thoughts in his heart.

"Continue to ramp up efforts to collect supplies."

Yamamoto could only say one word in the end.

"Hey."

Without Yamamoto's advice, Kotaro Ito would do the same.

"General."

Before leaving, Kotaro Ito also said:

"Recently, there have been more and more material transactions, and troops are needed to maintain law and order, and we are seriously understaffed, can you..."

The instructions given to him by the Independent Regiment prompted the devil to send more troops over, the more the better. The more troops he has, the more supplies he will give him, and the more profit he will make from them.

Although I don't understand what the meaning of this is, since it is the request of the gold owner's father, it is natural to complete it with all his might.

"It's easy."

Yamamoto nodded and replied:

"Fifteen thousand new soldiers will arrive from the peninsula on the 15th, which can alleviate the problem of manpower shortage, and more troops will arrive in the future."

The Empire had a reserve system, and there were a large number of trained civilians who could be drafted into the army at any time, and although the previous battles had consumed a large number of good reservists, more than 70 million people, calculated to be more than 8 million soldiers.

And at the moment, this figure is far from being reached, due to the serious lack of resources of the empire.

A large amount of grain, cotton and other materials collected from the Republic of China have solved the basic needs of soldiers, the biggest problem of conscription has been solved, and transporting this group of people abroad can also alleviate domestic contradictions.

As for other problems, bushido plus training, can be solved.

The only trouble is weapons and equipment, although the production capacity of the empire is not enough, far from enough, but the Battle of Yuzhong captured a lot of weapons and equipment, and the Battle of Changheng also collected a lot of equipment, which can be temporarily used to make up the number.

"Hi, thank you, General."

Ito immediately smiled happily.

Fifteen thousand devils, and more devils in the future, this is a big business!

······

Two days later.

Both early to mid-June.

Seventy-seven kilometers north of Jincheng, a county seat near the Yellow River.

Locals used to call him Wen County.

On the map, it is difficult for you to find this county seat, because of the chaotic management, warlord scuffle, Wen County has many names, not long ago, it was even renamed Wen Shi County, Wen Meng County and so on.

Although it is only a small county, the economic development of Wen County is very good.

Both the economy and agriculture are very developed, because Wen County is located between Luoyang and Zheng County, plus it is close to the Yellow River, rich in water resources, Huayuankou has not affected here, and there is a bridge through the Yellow River, and the resident population is very large.

In 38, the devils occupied this place and looted food on a large scale, and not long ago, the devils were driven out and the independent regiment recaptured it.

Later, with the support of a large number of materials from the Independent Regiment, Wenxian County began large-scale construction and development, building roads, reinforcing river embankments, building water conservancy facilities, and rationally planning farmland, but because the distance was too far and it was on the edge, the speed was not fast.

And today, with the muffled sound of the engine, the sound of the tracks marching, and the sound of tires running over the ground, tens of thousands of troops of the independent regiment construction brigade drove into this place in a mighty way.

In the back, there are more teams to arrive.

These people, under the command of the engineer, began to spread out.

With the blessing of various machinery and equipment, the highway that can pass heavy-duty trucks has been rapidly extended, and the light rail has also extended to the side of the river embankment.

At the same time, trucks and light rail trains transported large quantities of steel and concrete to the embankment, and workers used the original bridge foundation to reinforce the old piers and lay new ones.

Subsequently, the steel that was transported again was like the word "work", and the workers quickly built a steel bridge like building blocks.

Moreover, it is a bridge that can accommodate heavy-duty ten-wheeled trucks and heavy-duty machinery and equipment.

"This is the Bailey Bridge?"

Looking at the bridge built like building blocks in the distance, Zhao Gang was surprised.

In a short period of time, under the busyness of tens of thousands of people, a bridge that can carry dozens of tons of trucks and machinery and equipment has been built across the river, which makes him have to sigh.

If there had been such technology before, the construction speed of Zhao Jiayu's base would have been much faster.

"Yes."

Beside Zhao Gang, a young engineer about twenty years old said excitedly:

"This is an invention by the British in 38 years, which can quickly build bridges, several times faster than the previous construction methods, but the technology we use is more mature, faster and has a stronger carrying capacity."

"The master's technical foundation is stronger than those foreign experts."

At the end, the young engineer smiled even more.

When he returned from studying abroad, he actually didn't finish his studies abroad, and he originally planned to carry a gun to fight devils and spill blood on the battlefield, but he didn't expect that in this great northwest region, he actually had the opportunity to use his knowledge to build the motherland.

Although you can't kill the enemy with a gun, it is more meaningful to use what you have learned all your life to build infrastructure for the country and contribute to the prosperity and strength of the weak country than to kill the enemy with a gun.

What surprised him even more was that he also met a real mentor.

The master in the engineering team, with top technology and integrity, never hides his selfishness in teaching students, never treats students differently, does his best to every student, and is even more rare that he is never moved by interests.

This is the true master.

It is worth his goal as a lifelong learning mentor.

"Study hard."

Patting the young engineer on the shoulder, Zhao Gang looked at the bridge in the distance that was being reinforced.

With this kind of 'Bailey Bridge', the construction brigade can speed up the construction of the Yellow River Bridge, which was designed by the master master, with six lanes, can pass large convoys, and can also pass through reinforced concrete bridges full of trains.

Moreover, relying on this bridge, the troops can also develop southward, expand the base area, and completely connect Jin and Henan.

After the engineer left, Xu Husheng walked over:

"Commissar."

This was the commander of the first battalion and one company, and at this time he had become the deputy commander of the independent regiment, and this time he led the team to be responsible for the security of Wenxian County, with twelve battalions under his command and a total strength of more than 20,000 people.

After all, this is Yu Province, and there are a large number of devils stationed there, and strong troops are needed to ensure the safety of the project.

Although the first army was planned to be completely annihilated and a large number of troops were contained, the troops were no longer what they used to be, and the troops were sufficient, and at this time, the troops stationed in Mongolia had been completely annihilated, and the northern garrison was handed over to other troops, and the troops of the independent regiment could be freed up.

"How"

Zhao Gang asked.

"The devil's strength is even weaker than we expected."

徐虎生 says:

"Luoyang, there is a division of devils stationed around Zheng County, with a total strength of about 35,000, but the combat effectiveness is very poor, there are many recruits, there is a lack of heavy weapons, weapons and ammunition are also lacking, and there is basically no major threat to Wen County."

Wenxian is located between Luoyang and Zheng County (state), and after the battle of central Henan, the devils occupied these two cities, and garrisoned on a large scale, each city has a division around the garrison, although it is not satisfied, but it is also a treasure of resources.

If they were all wiped out, and somewhere else could be put together, they would be two mega-factories.

Neither Li Yunlong nor Zhao Gang intend to give up the development of resources here.

"It seems that in the battle of Henan-Zhong, the losses of the North China Front are much greater than we expected."

Zhao Gang was thoughtful.

The troops have been fighting with the North China Front for so many years, and they know very well the strength of the enemy, and it is absolutely impossible to pull their hips like this, so the reason why the North China Front Army is so weak at this time must be that the losses in the previous battle of Henan-China were too large.

"Don't fight against the railway line for the time being, first occupy the surrounding small county towns, as well as the nearby rural areas."

Zhao Gang advised:

"The devils occupy the central Henan region, the main purpose is to open up the southern section of the Jinghan Railway, let's ignore the railway for now, fence the devils and then talk about it, and we have to give some sweetness."

At the end, Zhao Gang smiled.

There are only 35,000 devils, which is not enough to eat, but the North China Front Army has 140,000 troops, and the devils can still squeeze more troops in the country.

Of course, if you want the devil to give away the head, you naturally have to give the devil a little sweetness.

Anyway, the base area is worried that the fuel will not run out, and the food will overflow, because the air force of the Yuzhong Battle will intervene and make a lot of gains. At this time, in addition to filling all the warehouses, Boss Chen also stocked 30 million tons of grain.

Looking at the smile of his political commissar, Xu Husheng couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth.

This smile, no matter how you look at it, is exactly the same as the regiment commander's signature smile, and every time the regiment commander calculates devils, he will show this smile.

"Yes."

Xu Husheng nodded hurriedly.

······

Meanwhile.

Ping'an County.

Meeting room for independent groups.

Li Yunlong slapped the table fiercely, and his tone was fierce:

"In the early morning of the day after tomorrow, according to the predetermined plan, the troops cut off the Zhengtai line, blockaded and surrounded the First Army, and launched a general attack."

Speaking of this, he looked around and raised his tone:

"Within half a month, the First Army will be completely annihilated."

In the conference room, including the blind man Cheng who came to the meeting, the faces of all the people remained unchanged, and they all agreed.

"Yes."

The first army of devils has 100,000 people, and it looks like a difficult bone to gnaw.

But at this time, there are 150,000 troops that the independent regiment is ready to dispatch, among which there are also a large number of mechanized troops, which have strong combat effectiveness, and can easily break through the devil's defense line, cut and surround the devils, and encircle and annihilate them one by one.

Together with the remaining more than 200,000 brothers, the number of troops is more than three to one.

Firepower is also all-round superior.

The fraternal troops around Shanxi are the first batch of troops to complete the redress.

Even excluding the troops of the Separate Regiment, including 120 mortars, the number of artillery pieces of more than 100 calibers exceeded a thousand. Because of the big mules, the penetration of 120 mortars is very high, and even many militia units are equipped with them.

Moreover, the devil's forces are concentrated, and they plan to defend the fortress, especially those reinforced concrete fortresses, which have gathered a large number of main forces.

As long as the ground-penetrating bombs destroy those fortress groups, in the face of the rampage of the armored troops, the devils are a herd of pigs, at the mercy of the troops.

······

"Nani?"

Taiyuan, inside the headquarters of the First Army, looking at the latest information, Yoshio Shinozuka's brows straightened up.

The troops stationed in Mongolia are gone.

The news didn't surprise him much.

This group of guys has a semi-automatic gun, the machine gun is popularized to the squad, the mortar is popularized to the company, each regiment is equipped with heavy artillery, a luxurious equipment The imperial army drooled when it saw it, plus the army stationed in Mongolia was an empty shelf, the main force was withdrawn, and it was normal to be killed in the face of the attack of the Tubalu army.

What surprised him was the news that followed.

The Independent Regiment sent more than 20,000 troops, more than 100,000 laborers, and a large amount of machinery and equipment to build a bridge across the river in the Wenxian area, and it was a concrete bridge that could accommodate standard railroad tracks and multi-lane roads.

"Is the message accurate?"

Yoshio Shinozuka asked.

When the independent regiment was in a posture of encircling the First Army, it was able to free up its strength to develop towards Yu, which really surprised Shinozuka.

It's even a little hard to believe.

He believed that Li Yunlong and Tubalu would be able to completely annihilate the First Army after spending a few months and paying a certain price, but the main force of the North China Front could be stationed in the central Henan region at this time.

This is not a weak Mongolian army.

"Hey, confirmed by the Intelligence Section."

The staff officer of the report bowed his head and said.

"Li Yunlong, what is this trying to do?"

After receiving an affirmative answer, Yoshio Shinozuka took out the map, looked at the deployment of the imperial army of the two provinces of Jin and Henan on the table, and fell into deep thought.

No matter how you think about it, it should be to kill the First Army first, and then develop to the south and east.

But Li Yunlong still did it.

More than 20,000 troops were sent to advance to the central Henan region, and more than 100,000 laborers were mobilized to build roads and railways, which was obviously to prepare for the advance of a large army.

Isn't that right?

Li Yunlong has the ability to quickly annihilate the First Army.

Thinking of this, Yoshio Shinozuka began to sweat coldly on his forehead.

Otherwise, it is impossible to explain why Li Yunlong would arrange it this way, which obviously does not take the First Army into account.

He definitely couldn't hide the matter of building a concrete fortress from Li Yunlong.

And Li Yunlong dared to do this, he must have been fully prepared, although this person acted elusively, but every time he did something, he had a certain degree of certainty and full preparation, and he would never act recklessly.

Therefore, Li Yunlong must have a way to deal with the concrete fortress.

But...

Yoshio Shinozuka rubbed his forehead and finally sighed deeply.

Even if he guessed that Li Yunlong had a way to deal with his fortress, so what? He no longer has any cards in his hand, and the only way is to retreat, and the First Army will fully withdraw from Taiyuan.

But don't say that the base camp doesn't agree, even Gangcun won't agree to his retreat.

The First Army is the target that was thrown out to contain the Eighth Road.

······

Also at the same time.

Yuzhong.

Somewhere in the city.

"The Independent Regiment is building a permanent bridge across the river in Wen County?"

Gangcun also received the news from the front and was immediately shocked.

He hurriedly looked at the information, and at this look, his complexion changed again, and it was as black as the bottom of a pot.

The intelligence is very detailed, the independent regiment sent more than 20,000 troops, including tanks and heavy artillery, to the Wenxian area, and began to gradually infiltrate into the central Henan region, and by the time he received the news, he had already occupied many small county towns and rural areas.

More than 100,000 laborers were sent to build bridges across the river, railways, and multi-lane roads.

This clearly shows that it is preparing to develop into Henan Province and prepare for the future advancement of large troops.

At present, the strength of the North China Front has been greatly reduced, and it is already very difficult to deal with those ordinary guerrillas, that is, the so-called militia units of the Tuba Road.

After all, those militia units are also really outrageous, many of them are equipped with Bren, Czech, and even some are equipped with general-purpose machine guns, 60 mortars, the firepower is not bad, and the most outrageous thing is that there are even a lot of 120 heavy mortars, which really makes the imperial army ashamed.

If the main force of the independent regiment comes over and heavy artillery, tanks and planes go into battle, what will he do to resist.

"What's the matter, isn't Li Yunlong preparing to encircle and annihilate the First Army?"

After taking a few deep breaths and accepting the reality, Gangcun didn't understand.

What's going on with this Li Yunlong.

The target of the First Army, with a total of 100,000 people, was placed in front of him, and if he did not deal with it properly, he ran over to plague the central Henan region that he had just defeated.

He's not even hot yet.

The Jinghan line, which had been damaged in previous battles, was also not built.